Activity Category: Interview Activity Title: Katie Meets the Amish Number of Members: 3 Time of the Activity: 3 minutes PA Standards: 5.2.3.A (List contents)5.2.3.C (List contents) NCSS Themes: Culture, People Places and Environments, Individual Development and Identity, Individuals Groups and Institutions, Civic Ideals and Practices
Script Characters: Katie, Samuel, Sarah Props: Amish clothing, Katie’s Konnections poster Setting: TV Set of Katie’s Konnections
Katie: Hi! And welcome to our show. I’m Katie and today I’m making connections with the Amish. I have here two young Amish people, Sarah and Samuel. Hello Sarah and Samuel.
Samuel: Hello Katie.
Sarah: Good day Katie.
Katie: It is so nice to have you both on the show. We have a lot of questions to ask so let’s get started. Where are you both from?
Samuel: Well we are from the county of Lancaster which is here in Pennsylvania.
Sarah: More specifically we live in the rural area of Intercourse Pennsylvania.
Katie: Well hey that’s right in our backyards! Fancy that! What kind of things do you do during the day?
Samuel: Well we attended school up until our 8th year and now we work with the family at our farm. I manage the corn fields and take care of the livestock along with my four brothers and father.
Sarah: While I work in the kitchen and inside the home with my mother and six sisters all day. We do the wash, cook and clean.
Katie: Interesting. Are you aware that the way you live is not the way the typical modern family lives?
Sarah: Yes but we have traditional values. We build our lives around the values of the bible which we believe very strongly in. It is the right and proper way to live.
Katie: So then since you are not the typical modern family, what would your house look like if I were to come visit?
Samuel: You would find that we don’t have televisions, radios, computers or any of your technology. We believe that it weakens the family structure and takes away from our faith and turn us into vain people.
Sarah: You would find no electricity of any kind in our homes. Most of our homes we have built ourselves as well as the furniture you find inside of it. We use windmills as our source of power.
Katie: So if you don’t have a tv, what do you do for entertainment and fun?
Sarah: We spend time with our family and time for prayer.
Samuel: With all of the work we have to do, taking care of our house and farm, there is not much time for fun and games. If there is time we like games like volleyball and baseball.
Katie: Oh so it’s some of the things that we like to do as well! We see you drive around in a horse and buggy. Why do you drive them instead of a car?
Samuel: Like we said, we believe that these technologies take away from the simpler things in life.
Sarah: However, in our order, we are allowed to ride in a car, just not own one or drive one.
Katie: That is interesting because I have seen Amish people in the passenger seats of cars before and wondered why that might be. Well any last comments for our viewers?
Sarah: I would like to say that we appreciate our privacy and hope that you can respect our wishes to live our lives the way we believe is the best way to live.
Samuel: We do ask that you do not take photos of us or other members of the Amish community. We believe that a part of our soul is taken away when a photograph is taken of us. We are just like all of you so there is no reason to stop and stare.
Katie: Well thank you both very much for being on my show today. I’m sure our viewers have learned a lot about your culture and beliefs. Thank you for joining us and I’ll see you next time on Katie’s Konnections!
Dramatize Social Studies
Dramatizing Social Studies (Example)
Activity Category: Interview
Activity Title: Katie Meets the Amish
Number of Members: 3
Time of the Activity: 3 minutes
PA Standards: 5.2.3.A (List contents)5.2.3.C (List contents)
NCSS Themes: Culture, People Places and Environments, Individual Development and Identity, Individuals Groups and Institutions, Civic Ideals and Practices
Script
Characters: Katie, Samuel, Sarah
Props: Amish clothing, Katie’s Konnections poster
Setting: TV Set of Katie’s Konnections
Katie: Hi! And welcome to our show. I’m Katie and today I’m making connections with the Amish. I have here two young Amish people, Sarah and Samuel. Hello Sarah and Samuel.
Samuel: Hello Katie.
Sarah: Good day Katie.
Katie: It is so nice to have you both on the show. We have a lot of questions to ask so let’s get started. Where are you both from?
Samuel: Well we are from the county of Lancaster which is here in Pennsylvania.
Sarah: More specifically we live in the rural area of Intercourse Pennsylvania.
Katie: Well hey that’s right in our backyards! Fancy that! What kind of things do you do during the day?
Samuel: Well we attended school up until our 8th year and now we work with the family at our farm. I manage the corn fields and take care of the livestock along with my four brothers and father.
Sarah: While I work in the kitchen and inside the home with my mother and six sisters all day. We do the wash, cook and clean.
Katie: Interesting. Are you aware that the way you live is not the way the typical modern family lives?
Sarah: Yes but we have traditional values. We build our lives around the values of the bible which we believe very strongly in. It is the right and proper way to live.
Katie: So then since you are not the typical modern family, what would your house look like if I were to come visit?
Samuel: You would find that we don’t have televisions, radios, computers or any of your technology. We believe that it weakens the family structure and takes away from our faith and turn us into vain people.
Sarah: You would find no electricity of any kind in our homes. Most of our homes we have built ourselves as well as the furniture you find inside of it. We use windmills as our source of power.
Katie: So if you don’t have a tv, what do you do for entertainment and fun?
Sarah: We spend time with our family and time for prayer.
Samuel: With all of the work we have to do, taking care of our house and farm, there is not much time for fun and games. If there is time we like games like volleyball and baseball.
Katie: Oh so it’s some of the things that we like to do as well! We see you drive around in a horse and buggy. Why do you drive them instead of a car?
Samuel: Like we said, we believe that these technologies take away from the simpler things in life.
Sarah: However, in our order, we are allowed to ride in a car, just not own one or drive one.
Katie: That is interesting because I have seen Amish people in the passenger seats of cars before and wondered why that might be. Well any last comments for our viewers?
Sarah: I would like to say that we appreciate our privacy and hope that you can respect our wishes to live our lives the way we believe is the best way to live.
Samuel: We do ask that you do not take photos of us or other members of the Amish community. We believe that a part of our soul is taken away when a photograph is taken of us. We are just like all of you so there is no reason to stop and stare.
Katie: Well thank you both very much for being on my show today. I’m sure our viewers have learned a lot about your culture and beliefs. Thank you for joining us and I’ll see you next time on Katie’s Konnections!